UNITED NATIONS S Security Council Distr. GENERAL S//1995/498 21 June 1995 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH REPORT OF THE SECURITY COUNCIL MISSION TO WESTERN SAHARA FROM 3 TO 9 JUNE 1995 Letter of transmittal Letter dated 20 June 1995 from the members of the Security Council mission to Western Sahara addressed to the President of the Security Council We have the honour to transmit herewith the report of the Security Council mission to Western Sahara, which took place from 3 to 9 June 1995. The report is submitted to the Council in accordance with the terms of reference for the mission agreed upon by the Council on 30 May 1995 (S/1995/431) and pursuant to paragraph 4 of Security Council resolution 995 (1995) of 26 May 1995, in which the Council decided to send a mission of the Council to the region with a view to accelerating the implementation of the settlement plan. (Signed) Legwaila Joseph LEGWAILA (Botswana), Chairman of the mission (Signed) Emilio J. CARDENAS (Argentina) (Signed) Hervé LADSOUS (France) (Signed) Gerardo MARTINEZ BLANCO (Honduras) (Signed) Salim Bin MOHAMMED AL-KHUSSAIBY (Oman) (Signed) Karl F. INDERFURTH (United States of America) 95-18503 (E) 210695 /... S/1995/498 English Page 2 I. INTRODUCTION 1. In his report to the Security Council of 19 May 1995 on the situation concerning Western Sahara (S/1995/404), the Secretary-General drew attention to the fact that the identification of applicants for participation in the referendum on Western Sahara, as envisaged in the settlement plan, had progressed incrementally, but slowly. He stressed that the identification process could not be brought to a successful conclusion without the full cooperation of the parties. He called on them once again to work with the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in a spirit of genuine cooperation. 2. By its resolution 995 (1995) of 26 May 1995, the Security Council decided, inter alia, to send a mission of the Council to the region, with a view to accelerating the implementation of the settlement plan. At the consultations of the whole held on 30 May 1995, the Council agreed to send a six-member mission to the region, to depart from New York on 3 June 1995. 3. The terms of reference of the mission, as set out by the Security Council (S/1995/431), were as follows: (a) To impress upon the parties the necessity of cooperating fully with MINURSO in the implementation of all aspects of the settlement plan and to underline the fact that any further delay would put the whole operation at risk; (b) To assess progress and identify problems in the identification process, bearing in mind the deadline for the referendum of January 1996; (c) To identify problems in other areas relevant to the fulfilment of the settlement plan (including the reduction of Moroccan troops, the confinement of troops of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Río de Oro (the Frente POLISARIO), the release of political prisoners and detainees, the exchange of prisoners of war and the return of refugees). 4. The Security Council mission was led by Mr. Legwaila Joseph Legwaila (Botswana). Other members of the mission were Mr. Emilio J. Cárdenas (Argentina), Mr. Hervé Ladsous (France), Mr. Gerardo Martínez Blanco (Honduras), Mr. Salim Bin Mohammed Al-Khussaiby (Oman) and Mr. Karl F. Inderfurth (United States of America). 5. The Security Council mission to Western Sahara wishes to express its gratitude to the Governments of Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania and to the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO for their hospitality and support to the mission, including the provision of means of transportation. The mission also wishes to thank Mr. Erik Jensen, Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara and the MINURSO staff for their assistance to the mission and their continuous efforts to ensure implementation of the settlement plan. /... S/1995/498 English Page 3 II. ACTIVITIES OF THE MISSION 6. Prior to its departure, on 31 May 1995, the mission held successive meetings with the Permanent Representatives of Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania to the United Nations and with the representative of the Frente POLISARIO in New York, in order to elicit their views on the mission’s terms of reference. It also asked them to facilitate contacts with the parties and observers with whom the mission would hold meetings and discussions. 7. The mission left New York on 3 June and visited Morocco, Algeria and Mauritania where it held meetings with senior government officials of those countries, including an audience with Mr. Maaoya Ould Sid’Ahmed Taya, President of Mauritania. In addition, the mission visited Tindouf, where it met with the leadership of the Frente POLISARIO. In Tindouf, the mission also held a briefing session with officials of MINURSO and some of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) observers currently there and witnessed the identification operation in two centres. The mission then went to Laayoune, where it attended a meeting with local Moroccan government officials, was briefed by the MINURSO Force Commander and Civilian Police Commissioner and met with the remaining OAU observers and some MINURSO staff. While in Laayoune, the mission also witnessed the identification operation (see annex I for a full schedule of the mission’s activities). A. Briefing by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Western Sahara 8. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Erik Jensen, joined the mission in Rabat and remained with it throughout the period it stayed in the region. During his briefing, Mr. Jensen explained the position of the two parties vis-à-vis the settlement plan and, in particular, the holding of the referendum. After the adoption by the Security Council of resolution 907 (1994) of 29 March 1994, approving option B of the report of the Secretary-General (S/1994/283/Add.1) of 21 March 1994 and calling upon the Identification Commission to proceed with its work on the basis of the Secretary-General’s compromise proposal, both parties agreed to move forward with the identification process. Mr. Jensen alerted the mission that the Frente POLISARIO believed that the settlement plan was weighted against it and was concerned about certain developments in the identification process. 9. When asked about the guidelines on which the Identification Commission based its procedures, Mr. Jensen informed the mission of the following: in the event that an applicant was not included in the Spanish census, did not present any documentation confirming his/her identity and substantiating his/her claim for admission under one of the remaining criteria, and if the two sheikhs who were called upon to provide the relevant oral testimony disagreed, the burden of proof would rest with the respective applicant to offer convincing evidence to the Identification Commission that he/she qualified for inclusion in the electoral roll. 10. Mr. Jensen informed the mission that although both parties stressed their commitment to the process and their desire to see it through under the /... S/1995/498 English Page 4 settlement plan, in practice they had difficulty from time to time in cooperating fully with all aspects of the process thus often causing interruptions in the identification. Even after agreeing to the Deputy Special Representative’s formula for solving the problem of the non-timely availability of sheikhs to provide oral testimony, the two parties still had some difficulty in always providing and accepting each other’s alternates to replace the absent sheikhs, thus causing further interruptions in the identification operation. 11. The Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General further briefed the mission on the status of the work on the implementation of other aspects of the settlement plan. He expressed the hope that after the mission’s visit the recurring problems in the identification could be resolved, allowing him time to concentrate on the implementation of the other aspects of the settlement plan. B. Meetings with officials of the Government of Morocco 12. In Rabat, the mission first met with Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Abdellatif Filali and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Filali reiterated Morocco’s desire to resolve all problems before the end of the year and hold the referendum in January 1996 as provided for in the settlement plan. Mr. Filali stressed that the presence of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in the Territory had become essential as D-Day approached. 13. Mr. Filali emphasized that MINURSO needed four essential conditions to be met for the implementation of the settlement plan: (a) permanent support by the Security Council; (b) full cooperation by the two parties; (c) assurances of cooperation and support by the neighbouring countries; and (d) availability of the necessary financial resources. In that context, he observed that while Morocco accepted the criteria for identification, the other party recognized them formally but, he believed, had instructed their sheikhs to accept only three of them in the identification process. This, he stressed, constituted a serious obstacle to the process. 14. When requested by the mission whether Morocco could increase its contribution to the financing of MINURSO, he agreed to consider the request, but he needed specific details through a formal request to Morocco’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Mr. Filali finally stressed that MINURSO’s withdrawal prior to the fulfilment of its mandate could be dangerous for the region as it would be a factor of instability. 15. The mission then met with Mr. Driss Basri, Minister of State for the Interior and officials of the Ministry of the Interior.